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Kentucky’s search for a new men’s basketball coach after John Calipari left after 15 years to become the new coach at Arkansas could be getting close to ending — or it might just be getting started.
Kentucky Today’s Keith Taylor, a veteran UK basketball beat writer, has noted that a “reliable source” told him Tuesday that Baylor coach Scott Drew had been offered the job and has told his current staff is contemplating the offer and could decide today.
One source at Baylor told me late Wednesday that is “one thing to say no to Louisville (when offered the head coaching job) but is hard to say no to UK” and indicated even those at Baylor thought it was “too close to call” on what Drew might do. This source believes an answer from Drew probably will come on Friday.
Another source with multiple high school recruiting connections told me Wednesday that Drew definitely seems interested in the UK job and prospective recruits understand that Drew might be making the move.
The quicker Kentucky gets a coach, the better. The quicker UK gets the right coach, even better.
However, it’s hard to find anyone who does not think Drew with the success he’s had at Baylor and his demeanor on and off the court would be anything but a home run hire for Mitch Barnhart.
This hire is important for Barnhart. He cannot hit the Billy Gillispie button again and hopefully has taken advice from basketball minds like he did from the late Mike Pratt before he hired Calipari.
With Rob Dillingham and Justin Edwards already declared for the NBA draft and Adou Thiero and Aaron Bradshaw both in the draft and transfer portal, it’s clear UK is going to need a lot of numbers to fill out a competitive roster. That’s why time matters to give the new coach a fair chance to make an impact in the transfer portal.
Will it be Drew? Maybe, maybe not but UK needs to know even if the answer is no.
34 Responses
I don’t understand how he is considered a home run hire. Mark Few would be a grand slam hire. Drew has missed the tournament I think 7 times at Baylor in 20 years. Yes majority came at the beginning of his run with Baylor but I don’t think he will do much more than calapari did. Mark fews credentials speak for themselves. I don’t see how he’s not even being considered. Its like Kentucky doesn’t want to win they want to be mediocre. He’s also got bounced from NCAA tournament in the first round 4 or 5 times. If you add up the missed tourneys and first round losses this is not a home run hire. So 11 out of 20 years weren’t good at all. He’s had 5 better than average years and 4 great years in a 20 year span. How is this a home run hire. Mark Few has been to 25 straight NCAA tournaments. He won 600 games faster than anyone in NCAA history. He has the best winning percentage of any coach who has won over 300 games. He’s been to 9 straight sweet 16s or better and 2 championships in the last 5-6 years. He’s also 2-1 against calapari. They best Kentucky at Rupp with the worst team gonzaga has had in 9 years and they killed Kentucky in Spokane last year. How is he not considered. How is he not the #1 choice. Its mind boggling to me. If we got Mark Few we would go to 2-3 championships every 5 years and probably 3-4 final 4 s every 5 years. If he has done what he has done at gonzaga with their resources what do you think he would do at Kentucky????!! He mixes shooter and athletes perfectly. They run a offense and get shooters open. Its crazy we are not going after the best coach. I mean they want Donovan who doesn’t want Kentucky twice already. He doesn’t want to coach college or he would have stayed at Florida he was building a powerhouse at florida. He said in a interview he doesn’t like to recruit just coach. College is worse now with nil and the transfer portal. Mitch needs to hop on the first plane to Spokane and offer Mark Few a 5 year 50 million dollar contract and Kentucky basketball will truly be reborn.
Maybe because Mark Few is Cals buddy and Drew and Barnhart are buddies?
Drew has been to three elite 8’s, one final four, and won 1 championship. He has won 2 regular season big 12 titles and no big 12 tournament titles. All in 21 years. Would he be a home run? Mark Few has been at Gonzaga for 25 years and hasn’t won anything but a weak conference. Plus he’s a alcoholic.
Larry If Kentucky is not going to win every year like the last 5 years with kids that are only looking at being Millionaires and could give a Rats Ass about what it means to come to Kentucky why don’t the next coach get Kentucky boys like Shepherd and Perry? The old Hog Caller King Coach didn’t get the kid from Harden County Trent Noah who going to South Carolina or the kid from Warren Central thats going to WKU? It really Pissed Me Off to hear Monk say he would be at the hog lot to cheer the main Hog On!! Well Monk never won anything here and his jersey will never hang in the rafters of Rupp! I don’t watch the NBA after Bird retired. Screw Him and all the others that feel like him!
Scott drew is off the list. Turn it down
Heard the same thing.
Jimmy! Jimmy! The FRAUD is NOT coming back! WHOEVER we hire, they will be better for Kentucky basketball than the FRAUD! Calipari, with the help of asskissers like YOU, have turned Kentucky basketball into a laughing stock. You are the REAL laughing stock. Crowing about how great Calipari was and how we were going to win No. 9! That kind of demonstrated stupidity disqualifies you from having any say about what the TRUE Kentucky fans do from here on to rebuild the damage that YOU and the FRAUD have done. Rent a UHaul trailer and move to Fayetteville where you belong with all of the other squealing pigs! SQUEAL JIMMY JIMMY SQUEAL!!!!
Barry You are so Right!!! I hope all the kids from where the hell ever but Kentucky go with Hog Shit and Monk and all the sorry people go with him and wallow in his lies and pig shit game coaching! I’ll be cheering the hogs lose every game and will be laughing at the Chicken People who gave Him all the bucks loose their Ass! Everyone in Kentucky should NEVER Buy any of Tysons chicken Shit!!!
Crybaby Barry I Never said Ky would win #9. Your dementia must be kicking in. You’re not a TRUE Kentucky fan. You’re a crybaby wimp! Now all you whiners can hope for is a Sean Miller. Big mouth Barry I will bet you $1,000 that Cal comes into Rupp next year and embarrasses the Cats and all you CRYBABIES! As a True Blue Cats Fan, not a whiney crybaby, that’s gonna be a Damn Shame. Where are all them Top Notch coaches knocking down the door to coach Ky? They don’t like CRYBABIES!
Jimmy! Jimmy! I would take you up on that bet if I thought that you had 10 cents to your name. I am glad the FRAUD went to Arkansas. Those will be automatic Wins on our schedule. Here is what the FRAUD said at his first press conference in Fayetteville:
“I’m always gonna be a players’ first coach. I’m sorry. It’s about the players,” Calipari said at his introductory presser.
Calipari has put his players first at every stop – at times to his detriment, following unceremonious exits from UMass, Memphis, and now Kentucky – and that’s not going to stop at Arkansas. We should have fired the FRAUD after he threw the game to Wisconsin!
Jimmy, if you need some help getting to Fayetteville, I will gladly pay for your gas if you promise you will never come back! SQUEAL JIMMY JIMMY SQUEAL with all of the other pigs in Arkansas!
Slick Rick is looking better all the time.
Thinking the same thing, because I don’t think were going to get Hurley or Donavon. Come on down Rick P
I don’t believe Hurley has told Mitch no yet.
CBS just reported that Hurley isn’t going anywhere either.
Pope Mark the first.
Cal Owned Pitino! He can bring his mistress to your house and use your kitchen table.
Rick Pitino…..COME ON DOWN….it doesn’t have a bad ring to it also. Apparently the Drew family wasn’t exactly blown away by what they saw and heard in Lexington.
That’s because Mitch doesn’t blow anybody away–except the fans……I don’t think ppl are realizing Mitch is a huge part of the problem trying to get a new coach here. If his buddy Drew turned him down, what does that tell you? And what does it tell you about Mitch that Drew would be the first one he goes running to? A guy who just wins back to back natl titles and the fact that u don’t call him before anybody else is insane. Instead, that guy becomes the SECOND CHOICE after buddy Drew turns u down…….Guys, Mitch is scared to death. He is in the very position that he never wanted to be in, and that’s replacing CAL. And not just that, but having to find a new bball coach, PERIOD! in his idyllic little mind, he wanted to ride off with CAL into the sunset and poach the new coaching search off on the next AD. Im so damn thankful Drew turned us down and now Mitch is FORCED into doing an honest-to-GOD coaching search. It’s like he can go out and land a great hire for the women’s program, no problem, just like that’s nothing. His ego has to be just as bad as CAL’s because it’s like when it comes to the men’s coaching search, he just melts down into a little puddle and can’t stand the pressure of the position that he is in–so similar to the way our most recent coach melted down in the last 5 yrs’ worth of SEC and NCAA tournaments. They both need to get out. They have both been in their positions far too long and have greatly overstayed their welcome with all involved. It’s like it’s fun and exciting to be going through another new coaching search again, but it’s also terrifying only because of who is leading the charge of that coaching search. I’m sure a lot of ppl won’t remember who I’m talking about, but bring Scott Stricklin back from FLA to be the new AD at the University of Kentucky, he is someone who worked in our athletic admin in the past and knows the program, and he is a guy who is personable and is actually INVOLVED with his athletic programs in a hands-on way rather than someone like Mitch who sits back and monitors everything at UK from his office on his laptop with a Heine Bros coffee and spends his lunch hour with politicians and investment brokers reading the WALL STREET JOURNAL and the New York Times. Bring us an AD whose first priority is on the A: ATHLETICS. someone with some life and some passion and who interacts with fans and his coaches and the players from ALL THE TEAMS, and has an actual RELATIONSHIP with them. Bring Scott Stricklin and Todd Golden from the University of FLA to completely restart and bring new life to the University of Kentucky athletic program. But of course, that requires action from the PRESIDENT–another lifeless, unheard-from-creature who is supposedly in the top seat at the University, but u would never know it!!! When does anybody hear from ELI? KY loses the biggest basketball coach in the past 30 years, and through this entire week, not one word heard from Eli Capiluto. It amazes me how disconnected and out of touch these leaders at UK are with reality, with people, with the public, with fans…….it really is a sad state of affairs up there. And so much of it is because they allowed John Calipari to long overstay his welcome. He should have been gone after St Peters. The whole athletic program up there is a disaster and these 3 are all the most responsible for it. It’s all about politics and money now.
In the long run, ANYONE will be better for Kentucky basketball than the FRAUD! Now we just have to let the Calipari asskissers know that we will hold them accountable for helping him demolish our once proud program! SQUEAL JIMMY JIMMY SQUEAL!!!
Appears that Barney had a very good relationship with Drew?? Does anyone really think that Barney is capable of making the quality hire that we need? I think he has an excellent change of going 0-3 out of the gates.
He’s responsible for Billy G. and Cals latest contract. Not a good track record.
Ok I haven’t seen anyone else mention this guy not saying they haven’t on here but I haven’t seen it. So Dan Hurrly isn’t leaving uconn after they won the championship he was ask about it and the guy laugh it off like it was a joke. Yes Billy Donovan would be great but I’d he really gonna come back to college coaching doubt it. So Scott Drew I don’t think he would have been a good fit for the wildcats. So glad he turned it down myself. Now with that being said what about the guy that would bring so much energy with him and to every game practice etc. and he in my opinion would fit perfectly here at Kentucky he has tract record of his guys playing hard for him and has really turned around the programe he is at right now. That is non other than Bruce pearl he would be great at Kentucky and there is no one out there that can truly say he would not be the best fit for the programe. Come on Mitch call up Bruce and give him a contract worth more then he is making at Auburn man I would love to see Bruce coaching at Kentucky.
Mark poop isn’t the answer
HUSH
We need to make a hire no later that April 20. If nobody else is available, the Pope is our guy!
Pitino over Pope in a heartbeat. He may not be in the "home run" category at his age but he still has some gas in the tank and could rehandle the big stage probably better than anyone outside of Tier 1. Pope could be a good fit down the road but doesn’t have a well established resume or winning %. All of this seems to continue to expose the Barney as his time has come also to move on. He has had a few years to have a properly vetted a short list and didn’t get it done by assuming he was more solid as he really was. Also think we need to find a new "welcome wagon" bc the one assembled to lock in the Drew family yesterday failed miserably. It is continuing to look liketh Cali-Fraudi is going to get the last laugh and, yes, we continue to be the laughing stock.
Hire Rick and if he takes us to the Final Four name it Rupp Arena at Pitino Court.
Pitino court? Lol
Three other names could get vetted. Chris Beard, Sean Miller, and Bruce Pearl. Beard and Miller would say Yes in a minute. Pearl would love the publicity, but would ultimately say No. Donovan is a very good coach, but I don’t know if he has the fire to jump into the NIL and portal frenzy. Pitino would take it, but he could croak in the middle of next season and then where would we be? My gut is telling me that it will come down to Beard and Miller so a deal can be struck by the middle of next week. I think Perry will still play for us, I hope Sheppard will do likewise. Burkes will stay, but our next coach will have to hit the ground running to field a respectable line up for next year. I would like to see Avila, Kent, and Conwell from Indiana St. come here since there coach got poached. The good ones will go fast. If a hire is made next week, maybe he can talk Thiero into staying. Onyenso should stay and be a star, but his handlers want him to move on from Kentucky if he doesn’t get good NBA feedback.
Looks like Barney hit the panic button and didn’t want to risk being 0-3 even though he might have struck out with Donovan. Apparently Pope will get the job, and I still don’t think he has the resume to even get that offer. He still has training wheels. It may, and hopefully will, work out but this is very high risk for us and especially Barney because another Barney miss would open the doors wider for him.
If Pope is the guy, so be it. That would be the quickest hire and best chance to field a competitive team next year. He can try to keep a few guys here and then hit the portal. Getting Thiero back would be nice. If he can talk Onyenso and Sheppard into staying, that would be a homerun. I think Burks will stay and Perry will be here too. There are 3 good guys leaving Indiana State (Avila, Conwell, and Kent) that might come as a package if someone close to home gets to them quickly. That would be a decent team, but it won’t wait long for a coach to come get them. We could do a lot worse than that group and that would make Pope a much better first year coach here. I say go for it!
The Washington Post
Dawn Staley has everything Kentucky basketball has been lacking
Story by Sally Jenkins
Kentucky is looking for a basketball coach who has stature, suavity, and strategic dexterity, all at once. That’s Dawn Staley. The women’s game is better and bigger right now, and it has the strongest coaching personality, too.
Résumé? She has gone an unheard of 109-3 in the past three seasons at South Carolina, amassing the greatest storehouse of talent in the country — and that’s in the middle of the NIL and transfer portal mess. It has been nine years since Kentucky made a Final Four. In that span, Staley has reached five of them and won three titles. “It would be pretty cool to see Kentucky hire that damn good coach from South Carolina who just won a third championship!” tweeted George Karl, the former coach of the Bucks, Nuggets, and Sacramento Kings.
Why would 6-foot-9, 290-pound high school center such as Jayden Quaintance, who just reopened his recruitment, listen to a 53-year-old woman who stands just 5-6? Well, I don’t know, apart from all her Olympic gold medals and trophies. Why do young men listen to their greatest teachers in any field? John Chaney of Temple, one of her old mentors, once compared Staley to “a Magi” in her ability to influence younger people.
College coaching, male or female, is a more complicated job than it has ever been. Raw talents with eggshell egos and access to the transfer portal have turned campus arenas into turnstiles. NIL money and the come-ons of other schools’ collectives mean you’ve got to keep recruiting your own players even after you’ve moved them into their dorms.
Staley has negotiated all of it — and done so more smoothly and persuasively than any operator in the game. She did not lose a single transfer this season, though she had a deep rotation of nine players who split time.
“For me, I would be surprised if any one of our players decides to get in the transfer portal,” Staley said last week. “Not from lack of playing time or anything like that. It’s just how they’re treated. They’re treated like professionals. They’re treated — they’re communicated with. They’re listened to.”
Plenty of male coaches could take a lesson from Staley’s management of NIL. She doesn’t sit around bemoaning the loss of purity in the game, while enjoying her $3.2 million salary. She makes a point of entwining her own opportunities with offers for the team, so her players don’t have to stare hungrily at a coach’s wealth, earned “off their backs,” as Staley says. Example: When Staley got an offer from a medical company named Rewind, she asked the company to do a deal for every one of her players. “Honestly, I make a lot of money,” Staley told The Washington Post earlier this season. “I want our players to make a lot of money … I am an active participant in wanting them to benefit in this space.”
Rewind not only gave each of South Carolina’s players some NIL money, but also stock options. Staley wanted them to learn what it meant to have “equity.” The agreement avoided jealousies over NIL opportunities because each player got a cut, and it strengthened Staley’s hand as a recruiter: She’s the coach who will try to steer deals your way, and maybe even get you a portfolio too.
“It’s in our space now — just like an opponent is in our space,” Staley said last week in a fascinating rumination about how she handles it. “NIL is part of our game now. And we have to approach it and be as vested in it as we are winning basketball games because there’s a direct correlation with your ability to manage the NIL space as managing personalities, as managing playing time, as managing a staff.” What player — or parent — at Kentucky wouldn’t like hearing that pitch?
One of the demands in the men’s game is that you have to replenish a roster and a rebuild a team in just a few months. Staley has done that too — better than anyone. Last year she lost five players to the WNBA, including three first-rounders led by Aliyah Boston. Staley began this season with just four players who had averaged at least 10 minutes a game. For a while, she said, it was like “day care.” Yet, she went an unbeaten 38-0 with them.
One of the demands in the men’s game is that you have to replenish a roster and a rebuild a team in just a few months. Staley has done that too — better than anyone. Last year she lost five players to the WNBA, including three first-rounders led by Aliyah Boston. Staley began this season with just four players who had averaged at least 10 minutes a game. For a while, she said, it was like “day care.” Yet, she went an unbeaten 38-0 with them.
Certain personalities have a natural aura of command, and who men listen to. Staley is one of those, as Pat Summitt was before her, with leadership so obvious that it renders gender meaningless. She doesn’t coach women’s basketball; she coaches basketball. She’s out-of-category, and the best candidate in any room, for any job.
Ms. Jenkins makes a pretty sound argument for Coach Staley to be considered for our vacant men’s head basketball coach. With everyone saying NO, I think she should get a shot. It would do wonders to put Kentucky back in the men’s Division 1 spotlight. It might even give us an edge in recruiting. Who knows? Maybe she is the coach that can lead us back to the glory that we have lost with Calipari and Billy Clyde.
You are truly a Dumb Ass Crybaby Barry!
You are truly a hemorrhoidal pain in the ass! Why do have to resort to name-calling? Grow the F up! God u are truly a miserable person. Go to Fayetteville and squeal with the HOGS since u believe one coach is above The University of Kentucky. One of the things I can’t wait for next bball season is to not have to even look at the FRAUD’s face or hear that God-awful condescending voice anymore–if I see anything Abt ARK, be it a game or otherwise, pop up on my TV, I will be turning the channel so fast I will probly fall and break my neck in the rush to find the remote. Unlike you, who will probably find ARK’s athletic sports package and begin your subscription to it once NOV rolls around , so that u can watch and keep up with your favorite all time bball coach. And It won’t even matter to you whether they win or lose, as long as you’re getting to see your boy toy on the screen and getting to listen to him tell you Abt how the kids are not robots and not machines, and how he is changing lives and making families rich–cuz, remember Jimmy, that’s whats it’s all about!!! Except that ain’t what it’s about at KY, and KY saw to it, and made KY KY again!!! Have fun with PIG SOOEY next year squealing with the FRAUD and the HOGS!!!! U should be banned from any UK sports website.